Harry Potter and the Deck of 53
by Deckof53
Summary: After fourth year, Harry begins to think about the upcoming war and his role in it. How could he possibly survive when the most powerful dark lord in history is after him. Who is this mysterious man that gives him the answer.
1. Joker Comes to Visit

The Deck of 53

Disclaimer: Don't own it and won't write it again.

Chapter I: Joker Comes to Visit.

He blinked. It was the only outward reaction that was visible. He could not believe what he was reading.

_'Dear Mr. Potter,_

_I doubt I need to remind you that we are coming upon some dark times. With the return of Lord Voldemort at the end of last year, we must get ready for the upcoming war. This task is only made more difficult by the fact that our current Minister of Magic is refusing to acknowledge the Dark Lord's return. I wish to ensure that you remain safe, so I must implore that you stay with your relatives for the entire summer. I am sorry, but there is nowhere else that is safer than there. I will arrange for you to go get your supplies at a later date._

_Have a good holiday,_

_Professor Albus P. W. B. Dumbledore_

_Headmaster_

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

Harry couldn't believe that the Headmaster, arguably the authority figure he trusted the most, was trying to get him to stay at this house for the _entire_ summer. How was he going to stand being around his relatives for that long. He hadn't had to stay with them the entire summer since he turned eleven.

Harry sighed. He didn't have time to be angry at his headmaster. He could find time for that later. There were more pressing matters on his mind at the moment. The first and foremost thing on his mind was his position at the very top of Voldemort's 'People Who Must Die' list. Why in the hell was he so important that Voldemort wanted him dead even more than Dumbledore?

Harry sat back in his desk chair. He tapped his pen against his leg as he thought about his situation. That wasn't the right question, he determined after careful thought. There was a more important question. How was he going to survive the war if the Dark Lord himself wanted to kill him, personally? He had dueled against him in the graveyard a few months ago and been completely out classed. The only thing that saved him was the _priori incantatum_ due to the brother wands. He didn't beat himself up about it. He was dueling against someone with fifty years of knowledge and experience on him. He had no chance. Now the thing is somehow evening those odds.

The next thing he was worried about had something to do with Dumbledore's letter. He didn't know if this place _was_safe anymore. The wards around here were based on his blood protection. The same blood protection that stopped Voldemort from touching him. Since that was no longer an issue for him, Harry wondered if the wards were still effective. For some reason, he wasn't willing to hinge his survival on it.

He needed a plan to get out of the house and go to a place where he couldn't be found. He had a few galleons stashed in his trunk, so money was not a problem. The problem was getting out without anybody finding out until it was too late.

A very loud sound from outside distracted him from his thoughts. It didn't sound like someone apparating, so he didn't become too concerned. He started to look out the window to catch a look at whatever the hell it was.

Before he could get a good look, the curtains magically shut. His eyes widened for a split second as he became aware of somebody in his room. He grabbed his wand and spun around, pointing his wand at the new arrival.

All that was visible on the stranger was a dirty, beat up brown travelling cloak. He had the hood up over his face. He held his wand in his hand, but wasn't pointing it at him.

Harry relaxed, but didn't lower his wand. This man didn't look like a death eater, and he wasn't making any threatening moves.

"We need to talk Mr. Potter, and we don't have much time." the cloaked man said. He flicked his wand three times and conjured a small circular table and two chairs. "Please sit." With that being said, he sat down in a chair and placed his wand on the table with the handle facing away from him.

Harry recognised it as a gesture of peace and did the same. "Who are you and why are you here?" he asked.

"I would love to tell you who I am, but time is short. I am here to offer you a way out of here. Your fears were correct, Harry. Dementors are on their way here. You have about five minutes to decide what to do." the stranger said. "You can trust me and get the hell out of here alive, or you can stay and risk life and limb waiting on Dumbledore to arrive."

Harry was shocked. He wasn't sure whether he should believe him, or not. It was confusing. He didn't know this man, and Dumbledore didn't send him. He was sure of that because Dumbledore would have came and gotten him himself.

"I know this is hard to believe, Harry, but we don't have time. You have three minutes to make up your mind. Trust me, or don't." the man said, his voice reflecting his urgency.

"How many dementors are there?" Harry asked. He was decently skilled with the Patronus charm.

"Forty. Give or take. I know what you are thinking, but it is too much for you to handle. Let me take care of it, and you get the hell out of here." he said. "You have two minutes."

"Voldemort sent them?" Harry asked. He had a hard time believing that Voldemort would leave it up to Dementors. He would want to do the honors himself.

"I don't think so. He would have came himself." he replied, unknowingly echoing Harry's thoughts. "It still doesn't change the fact that you are in very real danger. You won't be much help in the fight against Voldemort with your soul sucked out."

At that very moment, a very sudden chill crept into the room. The sunlight that had been coming through the window was suddenly blocked out, and Harry began to hear a woman screaming.

"Make your decision Harry."

With the screaming growing ever louder in his head, Harry decided to trust the stranger. "How do I get out of here?" he asked.

"You could say that I'm going to buy you some time." he said, holding up a golden chain.

Harry instantly recognised the small hourglass dangling on the chain, having used a time turner in third year to save his godfather. He took it from the man and threw the chain around his neck.

"This time turner works in minutes. Go downstairs and turn it eight times. No more and no less." he said, grabbing his wand and flicking it a few times. All of Harry's possessions flew into his trunk. Even the things hidden under the loose floorboard flew out and neatly packed themselves. "Call the Knight Bus. Go to Diagon Alley. Go to Florean Fortescue's. I'll meet you there."

Harry reached for the handles on his trunk when it promptly shrunk to the size of a matchbox and flew into his hand. He placed it into his back pocket as he was rushed out of his room and down the stairs.

"Remember Harry. Eight turns." the stranger said as he walked out of the front door. Harry took a glimpse out the door and saw the black robes of the darkest creatures he had ever come into contact with. Without another thought, Harry spun the hourglass.

***

Harry sat at Florean Fortescue's eating an ice cream cone. He had been waiting on his mysterious saviour to arrive for the past five minutes. Just as he was about to take another bite of his ice cream, an envelope plopped down into his bowl.

He frowned and picked it up. It was addressed to him. He turned it over. It had the seal of the Ministry of Magic on it. Why would the Ministry send him anything? He didn't remember getting a letter like this since Dobby, the house-elf, had magically floated and dropped a cake on one of the Dursley's guests in second year.

_'Dear Mr. Potter_

_We have recently detected that a Patronus Charm was cast. As this is a clear violation of the Underage Sorcery Law and the International Law of Magical Secrecy, you have been expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry._

_Hoping you are well,_

_Mafalda Hopkirk,_

_Department for the Improper Use of Magic.'_

"I didn't cast a Patronus..." Harry said, confused.

"But I did."

Harry looked up, startled by the sudden appearance. He hadn't seen the brown cloak while the man was walking up.

"The tracking charms on your wand notified the Ministry of the casting. Here's your wand back by the way." he said, presenting a familiar holly wand to Harry.

Harry's eyes widened as he dug the wand out of his pocket. It was eerily similar to the wand being handed to him, but it felt different from his. It was such a small difference that he didn't notice it in his rush to get out of the house.

"My wand is ten inches of holly and dragon heart. Yours is nine and a half inches of holly and phoenix feather. They're both creatures of fire, so it is a very small difference in the magic." he said in response to Harry's unasked question.

"Why did you use my wand and not yours?" Harry asked, glaring at the man as he snatched his wand back and threw the other one at him.

"I needed a way to get Dumbledore to get you out of that house. If I had used my wand, he would never have known about the danger and would have insisted you remain."

"I could have told him about the dementors."

"Wouldn't have worked. He would just assume that since you didn't cast a spell in defence, that you were safe within the house and command you to remain inside. The fact that you had to defend yourself so close to your relatives house will force him to see that his precious blood wards are not infallible."

"Why didn't you tell them about it then?" his voice just a tad bit accusing.

"My plans hinge on me staying in the background. No one can know that I exist except for those I choose."

"Okay. What are those plans and what do they do with me and what the hell am I supposed to do about this?" Harry asked while waving around Madam Hopkirks letter announcing his expulsion.

"Let's start with the simple question first. When a student is expelled, who do you think gets notified?" he asked.

"The Headmaster!" Harry exclaimed after a moment of thought. "Dumbledore wouldn't let me get expelled."

"Got it in one!" he replied. "He's going to appeal to the courts that the decision be overturned. If my guess is correct, and it always is, he will send somebody, probably a group of people, to pick you up from your relatives later today and bring you to a safe house."

Harry nodded and took the last bite of his ice cream. "So, I'm going back to my relatives and waiting for Dumbledore to come pick me up."

A chuckle was what answered him. Harry didn't like the sound of it, and his narrowed eyes let the chuckler know that he was becoming wary.

"Come on Harry, use your brain." he said, pulling down the hood of his cloak.

This was the first time Harry had ever seen this man's face. He would be remarkably handsome if not for the long, deep scar that started from beneath his bangs all the way down through his eye that branched off into a fork just below his right eye. Other than that one blemish, he had a very aristocratic face with sharp angles and a strong jaw. He had dark, reddish brown hair and piercing blue eyes that seemed to look through Harry.

Harry suddenly felt very exposed by looking into those sky blue eyes. He dropped his gaze to the table.

"If I had intended to send you back there so soon, I wouldn't have told you to collect your stuff. You will go back eventually. It will just be when I believe you're ready to go." he explained.

Harry was reasonably alarmed. Here was this man that was basically telling him that he wouldn't be going anywhere. "I'm sorry if this offends you, but I don't think that's a good idea. I'll be taking my leave." He got up and was about to make a brisk exit, but the man's voice stopped him.

"J'invoque la droite ancienne d'une dette de vie sur Harry James Potter." he called out.

Harry didn't see anything visible happen. He simply felt something happen with his magic. He glared at the man. "What did you do to me?" he spat.

"I'm sorry, but you forced my hand. Please sit down, so we can discuss things better." he said politely, but there was a hint of steel behind the kindness. Once Harry was again seated, he continued talking. "I just invoked a life debt, which you owe me for saving your ass a half an hour ago."

Harry's eyes widened at the revelation. He didn't know a lot about the subject, but he knew that this was some serious business. You couldn't exactly weasel out of a life debt. He groaned and slumped in his chair. "What are your terms?"

He leaned back in his chair and smiled at the boy-with-too-many-hyphens. "I'm not asking much. Three things is all I require. First, with my help, I need you to train and learn, so that you can be half-ass useful in this war. Second, you help me organise an army to fight Voldemort."

"And third?" Harry asked after a long pause.

"Simple," he replied with a devilish smirk, "Help me kill Tom Marvalo Riddle."

Harry smiled. Even if he wasn't bound by the life debt to do whatever was asked, he had been trying to figure out some way to do that very thing. Now he had the means to do them. "Agreed." he said and held his hand out to shake.

The look in his eyes seemed to lighten and a twinkle, not unlike a certain Headmaster's, started up as he grasped the offered hand. He decided not to mention that Harry didn't have a choice anyway due to the life debt. "Glad to here it. Let's get out of here."

Harry nodded, but before they left he asked, "So what do I call you?"

With a smirk he threw a card into Harry's hand. It was a playing card. It was the joker out of a muggle deck. "Just call me Joker." With that, Harry felt a familiar tug behind his navel and was whisked away.

T.B.C.

First story. Tell me what you love, what you hate, and if you want more. I doubt the updates will be regular, but I will try to keep them coming in a timely fashion.


	2. Time to Get Serious

Deck of 53

Chapter II: It's Time to Get Serious

Harry landed in a heap on the floor after the crazy portkey ride he had just been through. He dropped the card and groaned. Did all magical forms of travel have to have such bad landings or was it just him. They should teach it as a class, he determined. The 'How to Not Fall On Your Ass After Magical Travel' class would have at least one student if he ever heard of it.

"I can see I'm going to have to teach you how to not fall on your ass after portkeying and probably floo as well. Here I was hoping I'd be able to skip those particular lessons." a voice full of mirth sounded from right behind him. That was the only warning Harry received before he was hauled to his feet rather forcefully. "I can't have one of my soldiers embarassing himself when going off to battle."

Harry snorted and glared at the smiling form of his new mentor. "I'm sorry to be such an embarassment. If somebody would teach me some less bumpy method of travel, maybe I wouldn't wind up on the ground upon arrival."

"All in good time, Harry. We have a few things to cover before I teach you how to Apparate."

"Your going to teach me how to Apparate?"

"Ofcourse! It is the easiest way to travel. However," he said noticing the look of excitement on Harry's face, "that will be one of the last things I teach you. We have more important things to worry about right now than a few bruises on your posterior." He motioned for Harry to follow him and set off at a brisk pace down a corridor.

Harry almost had to jog to keep up with the older, taller man's strides. "What are we going to do now?" he asked.

"Do you remember those tracking charms on your wand I told you about ten minutes ago?" Joker asked. Not pausing for an answer, he continued, "Well you can't do much magic training if you can't do magic. Makes a crazy sort of sense, doesn't it?"

Harry had a feeling that that question was meant to be rhetorical, so he didn't answer. Instead he asked another question. "How are we going to remove them?"

"Don't worry about the process. I'll teach you how to remove tracking charms at a later date. You just sit there and watch a master work." They rounded a corner and moved towards the only door in this hall. Joker casually waved his hand and the door opened causing Harry to gape like a fish out of water.

"You opened the door without a wand!" he exclaimed as they entered a small study. The walls were a powder blue while the floors were hardwood. It had a large desk with papers scattered about. Two floor to ceiling bookshelves which were packed with books and scrolls dominated the far wall. Worktables with cauldrons were pressed against the opposite wall. The wall behind the desk had a large window which was open letting a slight breeze in.

"Can't get much past you, Sherlock." He held up a hand to stop the following questions. "We don't have time for me to teach you that. It took me three years to get up to the level of skill I'm at, and I have too much to do and far more important things to teach you than wandless magic. If you want to learn you can teach yourself. For now, let's get those tracking charms off your wand." With that concluding statement, he moved behind his desk and held his hand and politely asked for Harry's wand.

Harry reached into his pocket and handed it over. He stood opposite Joker and watched the man get to work.

"Pay close attention, my young protégé." Joker said, brandishing his wand with a fluorish. "If you ever find yourself hard up for cash, you could always get a few galleons taking these charms off of an underage wizard or witch's wand." He held his wand over Harry's and started flicking his wand around and occasionally muttering something under his breath. Three seconds later and a pale yellow color sprung forth from the wood. "Look at that Harry. As soon as that is gone, you'll be free to perform magic whenever you want." With that, he drew a circle in the air with his wand and then jabbed it at Harry's wand. With a sound like glass shattering, the pale aura that Harry's wand was emitting disappeared.

"Is that it?" Harry asked, peering curiously at his wand.

"No. I just felt like giving you a light show." Joker replied, sarcasm dripping off every word. "Go on. Pick it up and give it a try."

Harry cautiously picked the wand up and examined it. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. He looked at Joker for any hint of deceit, but only got a smirk for his efforts. It didn't reassure him in the least, but he figured that Joker had no interest in getting him thrown in jail. So with a swish and a flick and a wispered _wingardium leviosa,_ he levitated one of the books that was lying on the desk.

They waited for a few moments. Then they waited for a couple more minutes. Finally when it appeared that there was not going to be a ministry owl coming anytime soon, Harry grinned and cancelled the charm causing the book to fall to the desk with a thud.

"_Careful!_ Some of these books were written before Dumbledore cut his first tooth." Joker admonished, but didn't sound all that concerned. He waved his hand, and the book jumped up and stacked itself on one of the shelves. "Please sit down." he said while conjuring a straight back wooden chair on the other side of his desk.

Harry sat down and felt that he should ask the most prudent question on his mind, "What are we going to do?"

Joker leaned back in his comfy armchair on his side of the desk. "_We_ are going to do exactly what I said we were going to do. I'm going to train you how to fight. In return, you are going to help me raise an army and, when the time comes, help me kill Riddle."

"Why did you pick me to do this?" Harry asked. It didn't make sense to him. He was just a student, barely out of his fourth year.

"Hmm. The answer to that question is both simple and complicated." Joker answered, frowning in concentration. "I guess the only way to explain this is to just say it. I know what you've done since reentering the wizarding world. I know all about your little adventures with your little friends. Believe me. I did my homework before approaching you. That is why I also know how little formal training you've had. I have to say, Lady Luck must love you, but with just a small amount of training, you could be quite the warrior.

"There is another reason." he said. He looked to be struggling to find the right words to explain. "The only word I can think of is fear. Before you were born, Tom feared one thing: death. Now, he still fears death, but he also fears you. Because when you didn't die of that killing curse, you did something he's been trying to do for forty years. You cheated death, and he doesn't understand why. He fears you because he doesn't understand why you are alive. Then you add that to the fact that you faced him three times since then and have come away alive. At the moment, Dumbledore is the only one able to boast _that_ fact."

"But all those times I almost died, or almost got somebody else killed. I _did_ get somebody else killed." Harry trailed off, thinking of Cedric.

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic thing that you had no part in. You and he were taken by suprise and that cost him his life. He was a talented young man and if you and he had kept your barings and had the frame of mind to defend yourselves, you both would have came out alive. The lesson you should take from that is too always remain on your guard. Don't blame yourself for his death. Blame Pettigrew. If I recall hearing you correctly, he was the one who fired the shot." Joker said.

"You were at Hogwarts when I told everybody what happened?" Harry asked, trying to remember seeing him, but couldn't.

"I was."

"I don't remember you being there."

"You had just experienced a traumatic event. It's not suprising that you don't recall me. It's not important. The important thing is that you go to bed and get ready for tomorrow." He picked up a coffee cup from his desk.

Harry stared fascinated as it morfed in his hands into a small golden ball with wings. He made a pledge to himself that he was going to learn wandless magic as soon as he could. He followed the golden snitch with his eyes as it flew up out of Joker's hand and hovered there.

"Follow this little guy. He'll take you to the kitchens where you can fix yourself something to eat. I have plenty of food so don't worry about that. After that he'll show you where the washrooms are, and then he'll bring you to the room you will be staying in. Get some sleep kid. You're going to need it. For tomorrow," he smirked devilishly as he said, "we get serious."

*** *** ***

"That's not good enough!" Joker yelled as he pelted Harry with minor curses and jinxes. "You have to be faster than this. Death Eaters won't be hitting you with stinging hexes and coughing jinxes."

It had been a week since Harry had arrived and every day had been the same. He'd be woken up at an ungodly hour and be run ragged until late at night. He was currently doing dodging excercizes and failing to dodge some of them. To his credit, he had been going at it for an hour, and he was doing loads better than the first time he tried. He had been hit by every single one of his mentor's spells then. Now he managed to dodge over seventy percent of them.

"I can't start teaching you how to duel until you are in the physical condition that allows me to do so!" Joker hollered. He kept slinging hexes for a few more minutes and then stopped, calling an end to the excercize. "You're getting better kid, but not good enough. Go get cleaned up and meet me in my study." With that, he turned on his heel and walked out of the room they had been training in.

Harry beathed a deep sigh of relief as he made his way to the shower. The hardest part of his day was over. The rest of the day was a walk in the park compared to his mornings. That was when all his physical conditioning was done. The rest of his day was devoted to magical pursuits.

After a quick shower, he made his way to the room he was brought to upon his initial arrival. He stepped in to find Joker reading a letter. Apparently the letter said something that pleased the older man if the big grin on his face was anything to go by. After noticing Harry's arrival, he burned the letter with a touch and gestured for him to sit down.

Seeing as there was no chair there, Harry was forced to conjure one. Joker had made it very clear after that first day that if he wanted to sit down then he was going to have to provide the seating. He swished his wand with a muttered incantatation and a comfortable arm chair appeared.

"How have your studies been going?" Joker asked with a benign smile.

Harry contemplated his answer carefully before answering. "They've been going okay. I've hit a couple of snags in some of it."

"Oh really? In what have you been having trouble? I don't remember assigning you anything too difficult." Joker said, resting his chin in his hands.

"No, its got nothing to do with any of your assignments. They have all been pretty straight forward and fairly easy to learn. It's in my side project that I've been having trouble." Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck in a sheepish manner.

Joker raised an eyebrow and a the corners of his lips rose into a smile. "Indeed?" he asked intrigued. "Do tell about this side project. Maybe I can shed some light on it for you."

Harry sighed. "I know you said you had better things to teach me, but I've been having some trouble learning wandless magic." He looked at his mentor cautiously, wondering how he was going to react to this news. Whatever he was expecting it wasn't a smirk and a light hearted chuckle from the man.

When he calmed, Joker looked Harry straight in the eye with a bemused smile and said, "I was wondering when you would tell me you were having difficulties."

"You knew I was practicing wandless magic?" Harry asked inceduously.

"Ofcourse I knew. I knew before you even left my office that first time that you would try your hardest to learn the obscure branch of magic." Joker explained. "As I said before, I will not teach you wandless magic. However I am planning on teaching you something that will help you, not only in wandless magic, but everything else as well.

"Tell me, Harry. Do you know how spells work?" Seeing Harry shake his head, he continued. "There are two things that are imperative to casting a spell. One is intent; what you want the spell to do. The second, contrary to popular belief, is the flow of your magic. Most think it is raw magical power, but it is not. What makes wandless magic so difficult is that you have to be able to feel your magic in order to manipulate it in the right way. Your wand usually manipulates the flow for you in the form of wand movements, so you don't have to be able to feel the way your magic is moving.

"If you saw these wand movements," he grabbed his wand and made a simple swish and a flick, "what spell would you say I cast?

"The levitation spell." Harry answered, wondering where this was going.

"Exactly. And everybody else would think the same thing. However, if you can feel and manipulate your magic, you wouldn't need the movement." To prove his point, he pointed his wand at a pen laying on his desk and, without any movement or incantation, lifted the pen into the air. After cancelling the spell causing the pen to clatter back to the desk, he continued. "Do you see how that particular skill would be useful in a duel?"

"Your opponent wouldn't be able to tell what spells you were throwing at him?" It came out as more of a question than a statement.

Joker frowned. "Harry." he said sternly. "I asked you a question. Atleast give yourself the honor of _sounding_ like you know what you're talking about. It is unbecoming to be so unsure of yourself. Now try again. Do you see how that particular skill would be useful?"

Harry straightened up in his seat. "Your opponent wouldn't be able to tell what spell you are using." It was still a little meek, but it didn't sound like a question anymore.

Joker brightened and smiled. "You'll find that the more sure of yourself you are, the more people will respect you. And respect is possibly more powerful than any spell in existence." He waved his wand in a nonchalant way and a tea set appeared in front of him. "Are you beginning to understand?"

Harry shook his head. "Not really. It seems so very complicated. You keep saying that I need to be able to feel my magic, but how do I do that?"

Joker waved his hand, and the tea set he conjured earlier set to pooring both of them a cup. "I hope you like ginseng tea. It is my favorite." he said and sipped from his cup. "As for your question, you must have a completely calm mind. You've been practicing your occlumency which will help." He smirked as he saw Harry drain his cup of tea. "The fact that I slipped a drug that forces your magic closer to the surface into your tea should also help."

Harry suddenly turned pale in the face and started coughing. "You _drugged_ me?!" he asked increduously.

Joker's eyes took on an amused twinkle, and he let out a chuckle. "Don't worry. I only used a small amount. It won't harm you, but you might have a little trouble going to sleep tonight. A small side effect I'm afraid." He flinched as a string of profanities left Harry's mouth. He frowned. "Honestly Harry, I don't see the reason you're getting worked up over this. I hope I didn't overstep my boundaries?"

"No." Harry said quickly. "Although I would have appreciated a little forewarning beforehand, I'm not mad over it. The thing is that that could've easily been a poison that was slipped into my drink, and I wouldn't have been any wiser. I guess I'm just a little disappointed in myself."

Joker raised an eyebrow at the youth. "Alastor Moody would be proud. Somebody is finally taking his motto of 'Constant Vigilance' seriously."

Harry blanched unconsciously as he thought about the grizzly retired auror. The man was just plain creepy. However, Harry couldn't deny the man's expertise at his job. His face was enough of a resume to attest to that.

"If you're really worried about this, you could always take to carrying around a flask, or conjuring everything you drink out of." Joker said, putting down his cup. "I'll admit, it is a little excessive, but you need a healthy bit of paranoia to survive being on a dark lord's hit list. In any case, you don't have to worry about me poisoning you, and nobody else is capable of getting here. So you're safe."

Harry nodded as he considered becoming more like Mad-Eye. The image of him with all those scars, the peg-leg, and the crazy eye that could see through anything made him shudder. He sincerely hoped that he would get out of this war better than the ex-auror had faired up to date.

"Anywho. Let's get back on topic, shall we?" Joker continued. He paused long enough to vanish the tea set. "When you're doing your occlumency excercizes later tonight, once you have reached your calm state of mind, concentrate on feeling your magic. Every cell in your body has magic in it, but there are three 'cores' of magic within you. Many think that there are only one, but that is wrong. The largest of these cores is located in the stomach, the place where most of your energy comes from. However, most people never access this well of power in its entirety. Only the most powerful of wizards have ever been able to even find it, much less use it."

"Have you been able to use it?" Harry interrupted.

Joker smiled wistfully and replied, "Once before."

"How did it feel?"

"Intoxicating." he said with a look of euphoria at the memory on his face. He sighed and averted his eyes to his desk. "Harry, that kind of power is very addictive and _very _dangerous. My body was only able to handle it for five minutes. After that I was put up in the hospital for two weeks. But during that five minutes," he turned to Harry, and Harry let out a gasp at the _hunger_ he saw in those clear blue eyes, "I was invincible. I was a god among men. I must insist, Harry, that if you are ever able to access this power, proceed with caution. People like Lord Voldemort are born out of such power."

Harry gulped and nodded. He had never seen his mentor so... uncomposed. It was almost scary how he was acting.

Joker sighed and rubbed his face. "We'll continue this lesson after lunch. Meet back here in thirty minutes." He started straightening up his desk in clear dismissal.

Without a word, Harry stood and took his leave.

*** *** ***

Harry walked back into the room twenty-nine minutes and fifty seconds later. Joker looked a lot calmer since he had left. Harry walked over and sat in his chair.

"The second core is located in your heart and lungs." he said, picking up exactly where he left off. "This is the core that everybody draws the majority of their magic from. It is also why you can perform magic easier if you are in better shape. The more cardio training you do, the more magic you'll have. This is the one you want to find tonight.

"The third and smallest core is located in the brain. When you are ready to build your occlumency sheilds, you will pull the power from this core." he concluded. "Any questions?"

Harry frowned in thought. There was one question, but he didn't know how it was going to be received. "Has there been anyone that used all three cores at one time?"

Joker's eyes hardened, and his body went rigid. "There is no one alive that could survive even two of the cores being used in conjunction. I doubt Merlin himself could accomplish it." he said, coldly. His eyes softened and he slumped down in his chair. "Sorry, Harry." He brought his hands to the bridge of his nose and started massaging. "That will be all for today. I want you to go to bed early tonight. You're going to need the extra time to find your Primary Core. I'll leave you to your studies until tomorrow."

Harry stood up and made to leave. At the door, he stopped and turned. "Is it as bad as you say? The first core I mean?"

If Harry hadn't been looking directly at him, he would've missed the brief flicker of hunger in the older man's eyes. A bitter smile flickered into being on his face as he answered. "I hope you never find out."

Harry nodded and left without another word. Before today, Harry had never seen anything other than perfection from his teacher. It was like he wasn't human like the rest of mankind. Today had broken that image. His teacher was just as human as he himself was. He was a man with very real flaws, but he didn't let them control him. And it only made him respect the man, who had swiftly garnered a spot right next to Albus Dumbledore in raw power and wisdom, more.

T.B.C.

I have yet to get a review. Not even a kiss my ass. If I'm doing something wrong let me know. Please. I'll try to acknowledge whatever is said.


	3. Ace of Spades

Deck of 53

Chapter III: The Ace of Spades.

Harry quickly conjured a Protego shield to block a contingent of spells and ducked behind a pillar as a blasting curse sailed through where he was. He threw a blasting curse of his own. He heard stone crumble as it must have hit another pillar. He conjured a mirror to see around the corner.

The corridor he was in was in shambles. It had seen far too many offensive spells. Some of the main support pillars had been completely obliterated. It was only through a feat of magic that the roof hadn't caved in already.

His eyes narrowed as he spotted his opponent at the end of the hall. He took quick aim and fired a stunner. It struck him in the chest and his opponent hit the ground. Harry allowed himself a small smile as he turned and fired another stunner in the face of his opponent. Just like the one at the end of the hall, he hit the ground in a heap. As one, the illusions flickered and disappeared.

He walked back into the hall, keeping a look out for the original. His opponent liked to use illusions to instill fear. It had worked in the beginning, but now Harry was used to the stress of combat, and the illusions were proving to be mere nuisances.

He closed his eyes and calmed himself. He spread his awareness over the battle field, searching for magical signatures. He wasn't good at it and could only sense for magic within ten feet of him. His eyes snapped open, and he whipped his wand to the right. Unbidden, a stone wall jumped out of the floor to block a dark green curse, which upon contact, vaporized the hastily constructed wall.

_'A vaporizing curse. That took some power.'_ He fired a few concussion curses in the general direction of where the curse came from. Naturally, he hit nothing, but the wall. His opponent had long since vacated his previous position. Speaking of which, Harry had spent too much time standing in one place than was necessarily safe.

He ducked under a violent purple looking curse and rolled behind another pillar. He popped out some more shots, all of them weak spells as there was no point in tiring himself with spells that weren't going to connect anyways. Patience is the key to a battle where the location of your opponent is unknown. He transfigured a piece of rubble next to him into a dog, a beagle to be more precise. He then layered it with a compulsion charm to sniff out his opponent and bark when it finds him.

While his concentration was on the transfiguration, a cutting curse glanced off his forearm. The cut was shallow, but painful enough to elicit a sharp hiss from Harry. He quickly evacuated his current position. He took a moment to bind his injured arm, while keeping an ear out for his canine assistance. He didn't have to wait long. A long, loud baying came from his right. He whipped his wand in that direction and sent a widespread vaporizing curse which tore through through anything in its path.

Before it could go to far, a stone wall rose from the floor. The curse impacted with the wall and completely demolished it, but didn't have enough power to keep on its destructive path. It did have the desired effect of drawing his opponent out into the open. For a split second, Harry's green eyes locked with the blue eyes of his opponent and teacher.

That second was all they allowed each other before their wands blurred into motion. Curses, counter curses, charms, and Shields of all colors flew through the air. Transfigured animals fought and destroyed each other. They steadily drew closer to one another until they were practically wand tip to wand tip. In a moment of pause between spells, Harry capitalized on the opening and took the extra step to close the distance between them and pointed his wand at the older man's throat.

"Looks like I win this time." Harry said with a grin. It was the first time he had gained the upper hand in a fight against him. There was always the close call, but Joker always came out on the better end of it.

Joker's face lit up with a jovial grin. "Not quite my young pupil." he said with much mirth in his voice.

Harry's brow furrowed. He blinked as bits of rubble and dust got in his face. With a slight bit of dread, he looked up, which funnily enough is where his opponent was pointing his wand. His face paled when he saw a bit of a pillar, that weighed at least a ton, hovering over them with nothing visible supporting it. If he had delivered a killing blow just then, the pillar would have crushed both of them.

"I would call this one a tie, Mr. Potter." Joker piped up. Humor had never left his voice. Only when he was teaching Harry something very important did the Joker act seriously. Other than that, it seemed as if he considered everything a game.

Harry frowned. He had been so close to an actual win. Grudgingly, he lowered his wand and stepped back. "I almost had you."

"Almost only counts in gobstones and exploding potions." was the witty reply, as he lowered the large pillar to the floor. "Still, I must give credit where credit is due. You have improved. I think it's time I gave you your own power limiters. That last vaporizer was particularly nasty."

By power limiters, he was talking about the black wrist bands he always wore. Apparently they were used to restrict the amount of power used in spells, so that his Primary Core would be forced to grow. It really tore at Harry's pride that he fought against a wizard with a handicap and still lost.

"Does that mean I'm almost ready to conclude our training?" he asked as they both turned to leave the room.

"Almost. I still have one more thing to teach you. Did you do the research I told you to last night?" Joker asked, which garnered an affirmative response. They stopped near the door, and he put his left hand on the wall. A large squiggly scar on the back of his hand glowed blue as he charged it up with magic. Then, with a slight push, a blue shock wave went through the entire 'dueling hall' as they called it.

Harry had seen this process twice before and and was still as amazed with the outcome as when he first saw it. The scar was the magical Egyptian rune of stone. With it on the back of his hand, he could manipulate the stone to do what he wanted. In this case, he ordered all the stone in the room to repair itself. Joker had another scar on his other hand, but Harry wasn't privy to the information on that one.

"Come on. I already had the bands made, and they just arrived today. All we have to do is attune them to your magical signature." with that, the chipper man made his way down the many halls of the building.

Harry didn't know where most of the corridors led off to. He had only been in four of the rooms in the entire time he had been there: the kitchen, a bedroom, the dueling hall, and Joker's office. The last of which they were heading for right now. The solid oak door opened on its own accord as they approached.

"Put these on your wrists." Joker said, throwing the bands at him. He tapped them a few times with his wand, and they re sized to fit snugly against his skin without being too uncomfortable. "Okay now. Perform a spell"

"Any spell?" Harry asked, pulling out his wand. Once he got the nod, he threw out a weak disarming hex. He didn't feel any different, and he voiced his thoughts.

"They work. If you want proof, blow up that chair with that vaporizer you almost killed me with."

"Nidor!" Harry called out and pointed his wand at the furniture. He poured enough magic into the spell to completely wipe the chair from existence. To his surprise, the spell barely scratched the wood.

"Believe me now." Joker asked with a smug smirk. Harry's glare only served to widen it into a full blown grin. "Those bands allow one fourth of your magic into the spell. They absorb the rest."

The mirth in the man's voice pissed Harry off. In response, he poured four times as much power as he had last time and bellowed, "Nidor!" The following destruction of the offending piece of furniture caused Harry to throw his own smirk.

To Harry's chagrin, Joker did little more than shrug and say, "I guess you get to stand up then." He sat down behind the desk and completely ignored the indignant look on the boy's face. "Now, tell me about what you read last night."

Noticing the serious look on his teacher's face, Harry realized it was time for business. "Magical suggestion is very obscure. Not much was mentioned in any of your books. All I could find is that by using it, you can either intimidate the people around you, or do the exact opposite by effecting the subconscious. Kind of like Veela except their powers are far more potent and they can't decide what message to send out."

"Precisely. Albus Dumbledore, as well as myself, use magical suggestion in the same way. We both use the eye twinkle to get people to mellow out and trust us. I'll teach you how to do that if you want, but I mainly want to teach you an effective intimidation tactic. Watch."

Suddenly, Harry's instincts were telling him to run. There wasn't anything physically different, but he felt that his life was in danger. Before he lost control of his bladder, the feeling disappeared, and Harry let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"If you can get your opponent to freeze up in battle, you've won. If your opponent fears you, you've won. This technique will work on most of Tom's forces, except for his inner circle."

For the next twenty minutes they worked on magical suggestion. By the end he could create an aura of fear that might scare first-years, but not much chance against a Death Eater. However, to his great amusement, he was able to create the eye twinkle. He couldn't wait to use it on Dumbledore to freak him out.

"Very good. The only thing you can do now is practice." He took a swig out of a silver flask and threw it at Harry so he could do the same. He made to hand it back, but Joker waved it off with a muttered, "Keep it". He took out his wand and, with a few flicks, conjured a chair to replace the other one.

Recognizing the gesture for what it was, Harry sat down across from the desk. "What's on your mind?"

"How long have you been here? A month, right?" He received a nod. "Alrighty then. It's time for you to leave."

Harry's eyes widened. "Are you sure? There's so much that I don't know and..."

"Then learn it." Joker said, cutting him off. "Don't mistake this as me saying that you're ready. You're not. This is me saying that you are ready to take over your own training. I don't have time anymore to train you. I have to set up my own army because Tom is getting stronger."

"What _is_ my role in this army of yours?" Harry asked. He had been dying to ask that very question since the day at the ice cream parlor.

Joker smiled his good natured smile and pulled out a box from his desk drawer. He flipped the latch, opened it, and puled out a stack of muggle playing cards. "Did you ever wonder why my alias is 'Joker'? No? Because this is how I'm setting this entire thing up. I'll have four aces acting as my generals. They will have the jack, queen, and king as their lieutenants. Their subordinates will be the number cards. Anybody that isn't a card is under them. That is the chain of command."

"And what is my position in this chain of command?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

He only flipped over the top card in response. Harry glanced at the card and took a sharp intake of breath. Innocently laying there was a black Ace of Spades. "This card signifies the commanding position of a small tactical force. In all of my plans, there are only two combat oriented suits. The Clubs will be the large fighting force that will fight his forces in the large, public battles. The Spades, your suit, will be more specialized. I want you to organize a well trained unit that can go after key members of Tom's organization." He handed over a quarter of the deck. "Choose people that you believe can track down these people, break down whatever wards they are hiding behind, and capture and/or eliminate them."

Harry was visibly alarmed at the responsibility that was being handed to him. "Why are you picking me for this job?"

A smile flitted across the scarred visage. "Because I believe that you are the best man for the job." he held a hand up to silence any argument on the young man's lips. "You underestimate yourself, Harry. While you do need a hell of a lot more training, you also have what nobody your age, and a lot of people older than you, absolutely do not have."

"Really?!" Harry asked, sarcasm dripping out of his mouth. "And exactly what do I have that so many people don't?"

Joker frowned at the tone of his voice, but answered him anyways. "Courage, determination, a sharp mind, and the raw power to back it all up. At fifteen years old, your already a force to be reckoned with. You've faced the Dark Lord on multiple accounts and survived with your life. I can count on one hand how many people that applies to. Give it a few more years, kid, and you won't have to worry about Tommy boy. You'll have to worry about all the adoring fans throwing themselves at you." He said the last part with a very mischievous smile.

Harry ignored him, but couldn't help being pleased with the much needed ego boost. He blushed at the thought of people, especially people of the female persuasion, throwing themselves at his feet. He quickly pushed those thoughts away for more solumn and pressing matters. "How long do I have before this will all have to be ready?"

"That is not really known." Joker replied, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I think he's laying in wait. He can conduct his business unopposed as long as he remains in the shadows. I'm going to give you this next year. Be ready by then." He sat up straighter in his chair and started digging around in his desk.

"How am I going to recruit people?" Harry asked.

"Simple." he said, distractedly. "Talk to them."

"Really!" He really was becoming awfully sarcastic. Not as bad as Malfoy, and no where near in the league of Snape. "If I had known it was going to be that easy, I would have already had the entire roster filled up before the Third task of the tournament."

"Quit being a snarky little smart ass. I'm better at it than you are." He pulled his head up with an 'aha', and he handed Harry a familiar golden chain.

"Why are you giving me a time turner again?"

"Because I'm sending you back. We can't afford anybody to know about this." he said motioning to the cards on the desk. "So you are going back to your relatives and to wherever Dumbledore's safe house is. Apparate to your relatives house and turn it four times. It works in weeks, and if I'm right, you'll arrive ten to fifteen minutes before your escort."

"What should I do when I'm there?" Harry asked.

"Keep your head down, for one. Use the time turner to leave without being noticed. Other than that you have your orders."

Harry nodded and, with a dismissing wave from Joker, left the room. With a muffled pop, he disapparated out of the building.

***

With another muffled pop, he arrived at the doorstep of Number 4. He pulled the time turner out of his shirt and turned the little hour glass four times.

It was a little disconcerting when he arrived. Simply because there didn't appear to be anything different except that it was darker and colder. The dementors must have just been driven off. Sure enough, when he looked around, Harry saw Joker driving the last of them off.

He didn't get to see what form the patronus took before it disappeared. Joker gave him a little wave as he disapparated with a sharp crack.

He sighed and walked into the house. The first thing he noticed upon entering was his relatives cowering in the corner of the room.

"What the hell did you do, boy?" his uncle asked in a scared whisper.

He rolled his eyes. It figured his uncle would automatically point the finger at him. He was in no mood to play the blame game, so he decided to cut this off at the pass. "_I _didn't do anything, but save your sorry asses. Dementors came and that is why these things happened. I drove them off so that they couldn't suck out your souls." It was mostly true. He might not have been the one to drive them off, but if he was getting blamed for it then he was going to take the credit for it.

His uncle's face colored at the disrespect shown, and he started sputtering nonsensical things until he regained his composure long enough to spit out, "Don't you lie to me, you little freak. I know it was your freakishness that caused this to happen, so don't try to act all noble because we're not buying that rubbish."

"Believe what you will." Harry said with a dismissive wave. He was halfway up the stairs when an evil thought occurred to him. "Oh and by the way." he yelled down the stairs. "I wouldn't eat any sweets, especially chocolate, for the next few weeks. It could cause a fatal condition."

Okay, so that was a lie. However, he couldn't bring himself to feel bad about it. These people had treated him horribly, and he would take any kind of revenge he could, without hurting them of course.

Once his evil persona was done ensuring the discomfort of the Dursleys, Harry made his way to his room. Upon entering, he found a large red and gold bird perched on his bedpost.

"Fawkes?" Harry questioned. He was always happy to see Dumbledore's overly large familiar. It may have to do with the whole saving him from the basilisk, but he was happy to see him whatever the reason. Harry started to pet the mythical creature's plumage and saw a letter in the bird's talons. Harry gave him some water and took the letter.

_'Harry._

_I'm sending somebody to pick you up. Until then, don't leave the house and don't perform any more magic._

_Dumbledore.'_

His headmaster's loopy script was never a more welcome sight. Joker had been right: Dumbledore had immediately made a plan to get him the hell out of Privet Drive. He looked up to find Fawkes had taken his leave, and Hedwig had flown back to her cage upon returning from the future.

He took his trunk out and resized it. It wouldn't do to have people asking him about his luggage being shrunk when they got here. He set it beside his bed and laid down for the wait. He absently heard a car door open and close and then the sound of the engine speeding away. His relatives must be trying to get as far away from him as possible. It made the slightest hint of a smirk come into being on the boy's face.

Quickly growing bored, he turned his attention to finding something to do while waiting for his 'guard'. He found this entertainment in the form of a bouncy ball that lay discarded on the floor. Wandlessly, he levitated the ball and banished it at the far wall. He had finally had a modicum of success with the obscure branch of magic about a week after the 'Core Lesson' as he dubbed it.

For the next ten minutes, Harry banished the ball into the wall, moving his hand like one would move a ping pong paddle to 'hit' the ball whenever it came back towards him. It was a lot more fun than he thought it would be and he kept at it for ten minutes. Even then, the only reason he stopped was because he felt the arrival of several magical people at the house.

At that moment, he heard a crash from downstairs and several mumbled voices. He immediately grabbed his wand and headed to the stairs. He peaked around the corner and saw seven dark silhouettes. Everything was so dark he couldn't make out the identity of the intruders. A muttered _'lumos'_ from the group fixed that problem.

The girl that was holding the lit wand had the most shocking head of spiky, bubble gum pink hair he had ever seen. He didn't recognise her, but he would recognise the grizzled old form standing next to her any day of the week.

"Professor Moody?" he called out from behind the corner. He had ducked his head back before any of the party had seen him.

"Aye Potter?" came the reply.

"Care to tell me the name of that cute girl next to you?" he hollered.

A few choked coughs and snickers met his comment. He was beginning to think that he wasn't going to get an answer when a decidedly feminine voice carried up the stairs.

"My name is Auror Tonks."

Gathering up his courage, Harry continued his game. "Nice to meet you Auror Tonks. I am Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived-To-Have-An-Obnoxiously-Long-Hyphenated-Name. Not that I'm not pleased to see such a fine young woman in my home, I really hope that the next time we meet you are not breaking into my relatives house." Quiet laughter met this comment.

"Not to interrupt your fun, Harry, but we have to go." a weary voice he could place anywhere drifted up the stairs.

"Professor Lupin! How nice to see you again. How's my favorite teacher been?" Harry called, remaining in his protected spot.

"About as well as can be expected. Tonks is going to come up and help you get ready to leave."

"Are you sure that is wise professor? I don't know if she'll be able to keep her hands off me." after a pause so they could quiet their laughter. "Of course professor. Auror Tonks is allowed in my room anytime she pleases. She just has to promise not to frisk me too much."

"In your dreams, Potter." came the reply from the auror. He heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

"I wish! My dreams aren't even that good." he popped off before her figure made an appearance at the top of the stairs. He beckoned her to follow him back to his room. "I'm already packed. I'll just tell Hedwig to find me wherever we're going."

He followed his familiar with his eyes as she flew out the open window. He smirked as he turned back to the spunky looking auror who was looking in his cracked mirror. She was frowning, and then she screwed up her face. Her hair shifted from the bright pink to a dark purple.

Tonks turned away from her reflection to the teenager. He was looking at her with a friendly twinkle in his eyes that was eerily similar to the headmaster's own eyes.

"A metamorph. Can't say I was expecting to meet one of those while fleeing my house." Harry said, smiling good natured.

Tonks' eyebrows hit the roof. It wasn't too often that somebody recognised the rare gift she had. She composed herself quickly. "Yeah well, I can't say I was expecting to one day be sent as a special guard to the Boy-Who-Lived, only to find out that he was a shameless flirt."

Harry just smirked in response. Maybe Joker was being a bad influence on him. He couldn't say that he would have been nearly as confident before his impromptu training trip. "We all have our gifts Auror Tonks" he said. He turned to retrieve his trunk, leaving the young auror to contemplate how much that answer sounded like Dumbledore.

T.B.C.

I kind of like this story. I think it is going pretty well. Plus the plot has been in my head for the past three years. I just haven't been able to get it out of me.


	4. The Law Prevails

Harry Potter and the Deck of 53

Chapter IV: The Law Prevails

"Thank you, Auror Tonks." Harry said as Tonks levitated his trunk into the house.

"Your welcome, Mr. Potter." she replied setting it down at the base of the stairs.

Harry frowned. "You can call me Harry." he said.

"And you can call me Tonks." she said. She turned around and promptly tripped over an umbrella stand made out of a hollowed out troll leg. A shrieking sound filled the hall at the sudden noise.

Harry jumped at first and already had his wand out, but quickly located the source of the noise. It was a painting of a very regal looking lady that was screaming obscenities. He walked over and stared at the painting.

The painting silenced for a moment before spitting, "What do you want, you filthy mudblood?"

"I'm waiting on you to finish your little tantrum." he said as if it was obvious. She gaped at him in shock. "Seeing as you have been rendered speechless I will have to bid you adieu." he said before snapping the curtains closed before she could say another word.

"HARRY!!" was the only warning he received before he was tackled to the floor by a brown blur.

"Jeez, Hermione. If you wanted to be on top, you could've just asked." Harry said in a light and airy tone.

Hermione 'eeped' and jumped off him with a blush rising on her cheeks. A loud guffaw announced the presence of his other best friend. Ron's gangly form appeared above him before helping Harry get back to his feet.

"And here I thought I was special." Tonks said. "Do you flirt with everybody that wears a skirt?"

"Only the pretty ones." Harry said, throwing a smirk in her direction. "Speaking of which." he added, turning to the group that had arrived after Mrs. Black's outburst. "Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, you two look absolutely stunning today."

Hermione let out a strangled coughing fit at his new behavior and Tonks muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "shameless". As for the two women, Ginny colored slightly and averted her gaze, but the Weasley matriarch just took it in stride, going and giving him a bone crushing hug.

"Thank you dear. You don't look bad yourself. You're certainly looking healthier this year." she said letting go of him. "Your growing so tall."

He had grown a good four inches. He now stood at a respectable 5'9". He just smiled and said, "Just catching up on some growing that I've been putting off. Been too busy."

"Well you all go upstairs. Dinner will be after the meeting is over." Mrs. Weasley said.

"Actually Molly," came a wizened old voice from the back that anyone could recognise. "I believe we should conclude the meeting. I will see you all next time."

Harry looked to Dumbledore's twinkling eyes. He was dying to use his technique on him, but couldn't let him know of his training. So instead, he just nodded his respect to the headmaster. "Always a pleasure to see you Headmaster." he said and looked back up to see that Dumbledore had averted his gaze. Harry frowned, but forgot about it.

"Likewise Mr. Potter." the Chief Warlock said before turning and walking back into the kitchen, presumably to use the floo.

"Well." Mrs. Weasley clapped to get everybody's attention. "Let's go and get you all fed."

"He's just like his father Remus." Sirius whispered to his long time friend from the back of the room.

"He's got more of Lily in him than you could imagine." the weary looking werewolf whispered back. They both stepped forward as Harry approached.

"Hello Harry." Remus greeted, nodding with a small smile on his face.

"Hey cub!" Sirius said boisterously and gave the boy a hug. "Its good to see you."

"Good to see you too, Sirius." Harry said with a big smile on his face. He didn't know his godfather that well, but he was always happy to see somebody happy to see him.

"Oi mate." came Ron's voice from the kitchen. "Get in here so we can eat! I'm starving."

Sirius raised an eyebrow in the direction of the voice and Harry just chuckled. Some things never will change.

*** *** ***

"Sorry we didn't write, mate?" Ron said, sitting on the bed after dinner.

"We would've, but Professor Dumbledore absolutely forbid us from it." Hermione followed up.

Harry just shrugged nonchalantly. "Don't sweat it. I'm not going to." he said and flopped on the bed opposite the other two.

"So you're cool with everything?" Ron asked, not quite believing that Harry wasn't blowing up at them.

Harry looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Am I cool?! Of course not!" he exclaimed. They tensed waiting for him to blow his top. "I mean, Voldemort is still alive. I'm not going to be cool until I've remedied that."

Two sets of eyes bulged out at that proclamation, and another set just stared blankly at him. Ginny had joined them at some point. When that was, he didn't notice.

"Harry," Hermione began. "You-Know-Who is a very powerful wizard with fifty years of experience over you. Why don't you leave him to Professor Dumbledore and the Order."

Harry chuckled and said, "Hermione. Since my first year, I've had some Voldemort related encounter. What makes you think this year and subsequent years will be any different. He will keep coming for me until one of us is dead." He trailed off to leave a somber silence. "I just have to make sure its him and not me."

"So Ginny, how has your summer been?" Harry asked, light heartedly, as if they had not just been talking about mortal combat with the greatest dark lord in recent history.

"Just fine actually." she replied. "Its been rather boring. All we've done is clean this house all summer."

"Mine too." Harry said, resisting the urge to smirk. "You know its nice to finally talk to you. I don't think we've ever been able to hold a conversation before."

She blushed a tiny bit and bit out, "Yeah well. I got over that little school girl crush."

"Such a shame. I thought it was cute." Harry said and turned on the other female of the group as the redhead turned redder. "Hermione. How you be?"

Hermione sighed. "How you be? Really, Harry?" She sighed again and said, "I've _been_ fine. Ginny just pretty much summed up how our summers been. Just cleaning."

"Oh." Harry said, then smiled really big and said, "That is _really_ boring. I'm just glad its you and not me."

Hermione's eyes narrowed at him. "It _is_ going to be you. Now that you're here, you're going to be helping us."

Harry quirked an eyebrow and smirked, as if to say 'We'll see.' He laid back on his bed just as two twin cracks sounded through the room.

"Harry." the twin menaces shouted as one.

"Good to..."

"see that..."

"our dearest Ronniekins..."

"and the smartest witch of the year..."

"are still alive after the sound..."

"thrashing you must have given them..."

"for not writing to you this summer." they finished together.

Harry smiled at the two. "Gred, Forge! Nice creepy twin thing. It is really refreshing." Then he laid back and stared at the ceiling as if it held the mysteries of the universe.

Ron and Hermione exchanged a brief look of worry. They had never seen their friend like this. It was down right weird.

"Don't you two be exchanging brief glances of worry when you think I'm not going to notice." Harry accused, not even looking away from the ceiling.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other in alarm. He hadn't even been looking at them. That settled it. There was definitely something going on with their best friend.

He sat up and looked at the assembled with a smirk and a very familiar twinkle in his eye.

*** *** ***

Was the minister trying to get himself on Harry's recently written "People Who Need to Die" list. Because there was still room if he wanted to reserve a spot.

Harry already didn't like the minister for his smear campaign he had been waging since the Third Task. Now he was screwing with the time for his trial. It was very low down and dirty. He could be arrested if he didn't show up to this hearing.

All these thoughts screamed through his head as he raced down a hallway, following Mr. Weasley as he led him to the courtroom.

"Here we are Harry." Mr Weasley said as they reached a door. "I'm sorry, but I can't accompany you inside. Good luck." He turned and left without another word.

Harry sighed deeply to calm his nerves. He had spent a lot of time studying laws to get himself out of this situation. He wasn't about to let all that preparation go to waste.

At 8:59, Minister Fudge stood from his seat to address the assembled wizards and witches of the Wizengamot. "Since the accused has failed to show up to court, I request that a warrant for his arrest be drawn up immediately."

At that moment, the doors to the court room opened with a bang to allow entrance to a smirking Boy-Who-Lived.

"That won't be necessary Minister. Seeing as I'm not late till 9:01, I can't be accused of missing my court date." Harry said in a pleasant tone. He walked up and took the only seat available.

"Mr. Potter." Fudge said in a falsely cheery voice. "I see you got the message of the change in your court time."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Obviously." he said, trying to hold back his obvious disdain for the man in front of him. If any Hogwart's student saw him right then they would have noted a remarkable likeness to the resident Potions Master, though none of them would be brave enough to say it to his face.

"Very well." Fudge said and cleared his throat to prepare. "The accused has been brought before the Wizengamot on the following charges: one count of underage magic, and violating the Statute of Secrecy by using magic in front of a muggle. Prosecuter is Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic..."

"Witness for the defense," a loud booming voice echoed from behind, "Albus Percival Wulfuric Bryan Dumbledore." The wizened professor walked to stand by Harry's chair in all of his majestic glory.

"Professor. I see you also got our message." the minister sputtered. He didn't seem too pleased that the old mage was in attendance.

"No. I must've missed it, but it just so happens that I arrived at the ministry three hours early." Dumbledore said off handedly. Then he pulled out his wand and conjured up a squishy arm chair.

Harry frowned at his headmaster. That old fool just had to piss him off. Why did he get a comfy arm chair when Harry was stuck with a hard stone bench. It was at this point that the minister had just asked him something, but he had no idea what it was. Maybe he should start paying more attention, lest he be sent to Azkaban for inattentiveness.

"I'm sorry minister. I wasn't paying attention. What did you say?" Harry asked sheepishly.

The minister sighed as he began to feel an abnormally large migraine in the back of his head. "Please pay attention Mr. Potter. This is very serious business we're talking about. How do you plead against the charges against you?"

"I plead not guilty to the violation of the Statute of Secrecy, and I plead self defence to the underage magic charge." Harry said in a subtly confident voice.

"How can you plead not guilty to violating the Statute. You clearly used magic in front of a muggle!" a toad looking woman with a shrill voice exclaimed.

"The muggles in question was my relatives and legal guardians who already new about magic through relation to me. You can't reveal a secret to somebody who already knows it." Harry said while inspecting his fingernails. If this kept up then he'd be out of this court room before supper time.

An outbreak of muttering went across the assembled. From what Harry gathered, they had not been told that piece of information, and Fudge had been counting on their ignorance to convict him. He smirked and looked to Dumbledore who was staring at him with that twinkle in his eye. He looked back to the Wizengamot just in time to miss the headmaster's eyes snap away from his own.

Fudge banged his gavel to bring the room to attention. Once complete silence had been restored he continued, "Be that as it may, you still performed magic, knowing that it was illegal for you to do so until you are the age of seventeen. For that you must be punished."

"I plead self def..."

"I hate to interrupt what I'm sure would be a rather well rehearsed story, but..."

"Minister Fudge." Harry intoned icily. "You have to let me present my case as I am representing myself. Even though I could declare today's case a mistrial because you've denied me my right to a proper attorney, I won't. It would drag this thing out even longer, and I would rather get this out of the way." He finished with a cold tone. Silence met his words, and he could see Fudge start sweating from his seat. Apparently he hadn't counted on Harry actually knowing anything.

"Very well Mr. Potter." the Minister said with a bit of dread in his voice. "Present your case."

*** *** ***

Harry walked out of the courtroom ten minutes later. He had completely blown the case out of the water. The head of the DMLE, Amelia Bones, had seemed particularly pleased with the severe thrashing he had handed the minister. She herself had led the charge to get him cleared of all charges.

He began to whistle a tune on his way to the floo when one of those paper airplanes ran into his head. Annoyed, Harry tore it off his head and threw it over his shoulder. Before he could keep walking, the same plane flew into the back of his head. Getting the hint, he took it and opened it.

_'Three turns. JK.'_

Recognising Joker's signature, Harry knew what was going on. He pulled a time turner out of his robe pocket and turned the hourglass three times. Luckily for him, there was no one in the hall at the time.

"Hello there Harry. Welcome to three hours in the past." Joker said with a smirk.

"What did you need me for?" Harry asked as Joker ducked them into a side room. He didn't mean to sound rude, but Joker could ramble if you didn't get to the point.

"First I would like to say good job on the case. I don't think anybody expected you to get yourself off. They all thought Dumbledore would have to step in."

"He would have had it not been for your training." Harry admited. "And for those books on wizarding law you provided."

"All of that is irrelevant. It was you who prepared for this. I just gave you the tools that made it possible." Joker rebuked. "Anyways, that is not all of the business we have for today." He pulled a small box from his back pocket and enlarged it. "I have some supplies that you might find useful in the coming war."

He pulled a black stretchy looking fabric out of the box first. "This is to be worn at all times. It goes underneath your clothing and will absorb most spells. It also takes the magic from those spells and creates a small shield to the rear of the person wearing it in a dome shape which will rebound low to mid-level spells. Downside is that it can't hold much magic and too much will cause it too malfunction. So don't count on it for your primary defence." He handed it over to Harry and pulled the next thing out.

It was a leather wand holster and a pair of fingerless gloves. "The wand holster is self explanatory. The gloves, however, serve a function other than making you look cool. They prevent your wand from leaving your hand through disarming, or summoning. While they would be illegal in a regulation duel, I don't think anybody is going to care when you're fighting Death Eater's"

The next thing was a vest that looked to be made of dragon hide. "Armor. It should be all the armor you need when you combine it with the under armor. Dragon hide tends to be stiff, so to retain maximum mobility you can't wear a lot of it. If you notice there is a symbol on the right breast." Harry looked to see a large white spade with an Upper case A in the middle of it. "That is so that you can be identified. It also has a very powerful tracking charm on it. If you are ever in distress, I can find you any where on the planet, and probably on the light side of the moon as well."

The next thing he pulled was of another stretchy material. "That is meant to cover the bottom half of your face. I would recommend you get a bandanna as well. You are kind of recognizable. We don't want anybody to get targeted because of us. They can't target anybody close to us if they don't know who we are."

He vanished the box and stood in front of Harry. "You need to hurry and get prepared. This war is coming quickly. I'm going to need this army up and running by the end of the year." he then bid Harry goodbye and glided out of the room with his robe swirling around him.

Harry quickly put his new things away and followed his leader. Things were heating up and he was starting to feel the ominous calm before the storm.

T.B.C.

1.) In one of my reviews for the last chapter, I got the question I was waiting for. I knew it would spring up. I didn't know it would be this soon, but I knew it was inevitable.

What pairings are there?

I don't care as long as it is male/female. Just review with your suggestion and I'll let the majority decide.

2.) I've gotten pretty positive feed back on my story. The one criticism I seem to get is my lack of explanation for Harry's confidence boost I realize this, and I may try to correct it later, but for now I can't think of anything. Just bare with it. This is my first story, so any more works I will try to heed the advice given.

Thank you and good night.


	5. The King has Been Dealt

Harry Potter and the Deck of 53

Chapter V: The King has Been Dealt

Harry absolutely hated hiding his face behind a mask. It is what Death Eater's did. Nobody who is doing the right thing should have to hide who they are. However, Harry had conceded to Joker's widom when he had brought the subject up.

*** Flashback ***

"I understand your feelings Harry. Believe me. I hate it more than you do. We just don't have a choice." Joker said, peering out the window at lush green fields

"Why? What possible reason could there be to hide our faces like common criminals?" Harry spat, slamming his hands down on Joker's desk. "We're not doing anything we have to be ashamed of!"

"You're right." Joker said, rubbing his weary eyes. "Be that as it may, do you really believe that announcing the exact identity of our members is wise? Would you put it past the Death Eaters to use that information against us?" He turned away from the window and slumped into his straight backed chair. "Would you be willing to risk, not only your life, but Ron and Hermione's as well."

He felt like somebody had punched him in the stomach. A growing sence of disgust settled in the bottom of his stomach as he realized the danger that would be avoided because Joker had given him the mask. How could he have overlooked something so important? He began to stutter out an apology, which Joker waved off.

"We're not perfect Harry. We all make mistakes." he said. "However, please do not forget the position you have taken up. You have agreed to command an entire regiment of this army. The tiniest mistakes could end disasterously. I just don't want people to get hurt."

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, noticing for the first time how uncharacteristically somber Joker was behaving. "You seem... tired."

"The Dark Lord is planning something. He has nothing opposing him yet, and he is using the time to gather forces. The longer he is silent, the more we have to worry." They locked eyes for a moment and he said, "Make sure who you bring in is trustworthy, but hurry and get ready. We have no time."

*** End Flashback ***

He had accepted what the boss had said then, but that still didn't mean he liked it now. He scratched at the stretchy material that irritated his face so much. He had no clue what this meeting that Joker had called was all about, but the older man had insisted that he wear the vest and mask. He also wore a pair of blue jeans, a sleveless, black shirt underneath the vest, a red faded ball cap to cover his hair, and a pair of dark sunglasses to cover his eyes.

He calmly strolled down the hall, away from the apparition point and towards the office where he had been summoned. When he got close, the door opened as if on its own accord. He didn't even blink an eye. He just walked in, but stopped when he noticed the rooms occupants. There was Joker, ofcourse, standing and staring out of the window at the green fields that gave away into a large forest. Unlike any other time, he wasn't alone in the room.

There was a large man sitting in a corner, lazily fiddling with his wand and generally not paying attention to anybody else in the room. He wore a basic robe under his vest that had a large club with an upper case 'A' in the middle. Unlike Harry, he had decided to not cover his hair and instead let his dirty blonde locks curl down around his face.

The next man was completely covered in black from head to toe. He had a black bandana to cover his hair, black dress pants, black dress shoes, and a black dress shirt with black tie under the vest. In fact the only colors on him were his bluish green eyes and the red diamond on the vest.

He had almost written it off as just them until he noticed a small patch of red in a dark corner off to the side. It was in the shape of a heart. That was all he could see as the person was enshrouded in a hooded cloak, though he could make out some very feminine curves under the cloak.

"Make yourselves comfortable." Joker said without turning around. "I'm calling this meeting to start. Don't take your masks off." Harry noticed that he and the others stood poised to remove the masks. "You do not need to know who eachother are. You only need to be able to work together. That does not require you to know a face or a name." Joker finally turned away from the window and gracefully seated himself behind the desk.

"You've all figured out who eachother are. You are the aces in my deck of cards and the generals in my army." he continued, steepling his fingers in front of his face. "What you don't know is what eachother's role is. I'll explain.

"The Ace of Clubs," he started, nodding at the big man, "I chose because he has a lot of experience in battle field tactics. He will be in charge of the main army in the large public battles.

"The Ace of Diamonds," he waved in the direction of the business looking man, "is not a combat oriented suit. He is an expert diplomat. He will be in charge of negotiating with allies and acquiring and making use of any funds. For now we have no support. We have to work completely on our own. That is why he is here.

"The Ace of Hearts," he looked at the only female in the group, "is our information department. Spies, research and development, and everything else like that is her department. Any information she is able to get will help us in our battles.

"Last, but not least, the Ace of Spades," he looked at Harry briefly, "is the other combat oriented suit. He will be in charge of isolating prime targets, like the Inner Circle, and capturing, or eliminating them. When the time comes, it will be he and I that go after Voldemort."

Harry observed the usual flinch at the Dark Lord's name with a little disappointment. True, it was more controlled than with the regular populace, but it looked like he and Joker were the only ones here that were completely unaffected by the name.

"Now that you've been introduced, I'm going to conclude this meeting. You are dismissed. Ace of Spades, please hold back for a moment." Joker said, standing and walking to the window again.

Harry remained seated until the other three had vacated the room. Once they were alone, he stood and joined his mentor at the window. They stood there in silence for a few moments, just soaking in the view.

Finally, Joker sighed and asked, "So what did you think of them?"

"What am I supposed to think about them? I didn't hear one of them speak a word the entire time they were here. How am I supposed to generate an opinion of someone based on nothing?"

"You must pay better attention Harry." Joker said seriously. "Sometimes silence can tell us more than words ever could." He paused long enough to see Harry give him a blank look before sighing again and saying, "I don't expect you to understand right away. One day you will. When you have more patience than a fifteen year old." Harry threw an indignant look at the maturity crack, which Joker just smirked off. "Come on kid. I've got something to show you."

Joker waved his hand and his dirty, beat up travelling cloak flew into his hand. They exited the office and immediately turned left and walked down a short hallway to a new door. It had a brass spade as a door knob. They walked inside to see a large empty room. It was atleast twice as big as the Great Hall at Hogwarts.

"This is your room. Do with it as you wish. I would suggest using atleast a portion of it as a training room and another portion so you can meet with your lieutenants. Those are just my suggestions. You can really do whatever you want to with it. If you need more rooms, I have a book on construction spells that you can borrow if you wish."

Harry stared with wonder at the freakishly huge room and began to wonder what he could possibly need with such a large space. He needed an office was one of the first thoughts to enter his mind. It would be in the back corner. He figured it would be best if he left most of the room open as a training room. He would need dueling platforms and excercize equipment. Another room could be used as a stategy room that he and his lieutenants would use to plan their attacks. In his minds eye he saw the room built up in front of him.

"Don't forget that we are on a tight budget, Harry. Buy nothing, but the necessities. Once we can implement a few of my plans, we'll be able to expand." Joker said, turning to walk out the door. "Oh. Before I leave. Do you have any ideas for your Jack, Queen, or King?"

"I have a few ideas for the Queen and King." Harry said without turning away from his mental image. "I still have no idea about the Jack, but I'm working on it."

"That's good. We're ahead of schedule. How soon can you get the King and Queen?"

"I'm going to get the King before I go back to school. The Queen is going to be more difficult. I might have to wait for that one."

"That's fine. You've got till next summer. Take your time. I don't want you to feel rushed and pick the wrong guy for the job."

"Don't worry about that. The people I have in mind are perfect for the jobs I have in mind."

"Hurry up and get your stuff! We have to be at the train station in thirty minutes!" the unmistakeable voice of Molly Weasley boomed up the stairs.

Harry smiled with a bit of mischeif as he watched his red headed best friend run around trying to find any last minute belongings that had yet to be packed. His own trunk was neatly packed at the bottom of the stairs with the rest of the prepared luggage.

"You really should have done this before now, Ron." Harry said while relaxing on his bed.

"Shut up, Harry. I've gotten it from my mother, my sister, and Hermione. I don't need you to join that list." Ron said, throwing the obviously amused teen a dark glare. "You know if you care so much about this getting done quickly, feel free to help me."

Harry let out a small chuckle at the red head's expense. "I am helping. Do you think you would have found half the stuff you did, had I not pointed it out to you." he said with his eyes twinkling away.

Ron stopped and stared at Harry with a complicated look on his face. "Has anybody ever told you how creepy it is that you look just like Dumbledore sometimes." he asked with honest curiosity in his voice.

Harry laughed out loud at that remark. "Are you saying I look old?" he cried out in mock indignation.

Ron smiled at his best mate. He was glad that he wasn't taking Cedric's death and Voldemort's return too seriously. That first day had worried him and Hermione, but it was all for naught. There friend was being as normal as could be considering they were in the headquarter's of a secret organization opposing the Dark Lord.

"Well let's face facts, Harry." he said with a mischevious smirk. "You just don't look as good as me, and you're starting to get gray hairs." He laughed at the indignant look on Harry's face, but quit laughing when he felt the only slightly smaller boy tackle him onto the other bed and whack him over the head with the pillow.

"I might be getting old, but I can still take you down any day of the week." Harry declared victoriously. He helped the other boy up from his sprawled position on the bed and they both laughed at eachother. "Now hurry up and get done packing. We have to leave in about twenty-five minutes."

"I'm finished." Ron said, grabbing his trunk and heading for the door.

"Ron?" Harry said from behind him.

"We don't have time for talking Harry, so what is it?"

"Oh I was just wondering if you're going to take Pig with you, or leave him here." Harry said. The smirk was audible in his voice.

Ron cursed and turned around to retrieve the cage before heading back out the door with his best friend laughing his head off. Harry wandlessly shut the door once Ron was out of sight and headed down stairs.

"About time Ronald!" Mrs. Weasley said and hustled them both out the door where the car's were waiting. They hurriedly threw Ron's trunk in the trunk and got in the car. A man they recognised as Kingsley Shacklebolt was driving and Tonks was in the passenger seat. The back seat was obviously expanded because Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Mr. Weasley were able to fit comfortably.

The four students talked and laughed with eachother and Mr. Weasley all the way to King's Cross. It was only five minutes for the magically enhanced cars to commute to the train station. Harry imagined that it would have been quite a sight for a muggle if there hadn't been Notice-Me-Not charms covering the car. With all those people piling out of the car like clowns at the carnival, it must have looked very odd.

As they were heading for the platform, Harry felt something brush up against his leg. It was a very familiar black dog. From the look on Mad-Eye's face, he was not happy with the stow away, and he voiced those thoughts to the dog.

"Padfoot," he whispered out of the corner of his mouth. "You're going to blow everything. You were supposed to stay at headquarters."

The dog just gave Mad-Eye the doggy equivalent of the 'You're Crazy' look and slinked off into a private room. Harry quickly followed him to find that Sirius had already transformed into his human form. They embraced quickly and Sirius sat him down.

"What are you doing here? You could get caught." Harry said even though he was glad to see the old convict.

"What is the point in life if you can't take a few risks." Sirius said with a mischevious sparkle in his eye. Harry briefly wondered if that sparkle was a form of magical suggestion, but wrote it off as something that was uniquely Sirius. "I just want you to be careful this year. Voldemort is going after something. Something he didn't have the last time."

"Like a weapon?" Harry asked.

"I've said more than anybody wants me too. I just wanted to warn you. If you keep having those dreams, don't hesitate to send me a letter." Sirius said seriously, no pun intended.

"I will, Sirius" Harry said. "You be careful too. I don't want to hear about the capture of the infamous Sirius Black until we can prove that Wormtail is the one that did all that."

"No worries, Prongslet. The aurors couldn't catch me on my worst day." Sirius said, cockily. "Now go on. You don't want to miss the train." He watched the boy leave with a smile. Once the door had closed behind him, the smile slipped off his face and he pulled out his wand. "You're good. I almost didn't notice your prescence."

"The notorious Sirius Black. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." a disembodied voice came from the corner of the room. Suddenly, a man melted out of the wall. He wore blue jeans, a black sleveless shirt with a vest over it, a black face mask, and a red ball cap.

"Well I see that we know who I am, but I don't know who you are." Sirius said, standing and brandishing his wand.

Harry raised his gloved hands in surrender and sat on the bench. "I mean you no harm, Mr. Black. Or should I say, Command Sergeant Major of the Task Force of the International Confederation of Unspeakables."

Sirius tightened the grip on his wand. There were very few people who knew that he had worked with the Unspeakables. Fewer knew that he was on the ICU. And only two people alive knew how high up he was in the ICU. Not even James Potter had known that fact.

"I had a friend of mine do some digging. There is very little she can't find out about someone." Harry said thinking about the only female ace. Sirius had told him that he had worked with the Unspeakables over the summer. Once he had known that, it was just a matter of talking the Ace of Hearts into finding out everything she could.

"I see you've done your homework on me. The question I have now is why?" Sirius said, not lowering his wand an inch.

"I want to ask you for some help." Harry said. He flicked his wrist and slowly drew his wand from its holster. He made sure to not make any moves that could possibly be considered threatening in any way. "I'm just going to put up a few privacy spells." True to his word, Harry deliberately made the wand movements for a privacy ward and a proximity charm. He then conjured a table in front of him and put his wand down on it. He took a deep breath. Those wards weren't too draining, but holding such a powerful disillusionment charm for as long as he did had taken a bit out of him.

"That disillusionment charm must have taken a bit out of you." Sirius said, correctly diagnosing the problem. "You don't seem to be interested in fighting, but you better do some fast talking. You still haven't told me who you are."

"My name is not important. The important thing is that I know of Voldemort's return, and a few associates and I are trying to amass an army to oppose him. I came to you today to extend an invitation to join us."

"I'm listening." Sirius said, lowering his wand, but keeping it at the ready.

"Allow me to explain. I know of your involvement in Dumbledore's vigilante group, and that's perfectly fine. I don't care if you are a member of his group, but they don't do nearly enough. I am offering you a chance to join this army and go after these guys."

"So what you are planning is to get a few people together to fight. That is ridiculous." Sirius said condescendingly.

Harry flinched at the tone. "We're getting more than a few people. We have a four part army, based off a deck of playing cards. I am the Ace of Spades. My job is to find high dollar targets, and take them out. I want you to be one of my lieutenants. You will supervise the combat portion of my group. You will have three teams under you with the team leaders being the number cards two, three, and four. You choose who fills those spots. We go after the Inner Circle. We are a tactical team. We rarely involve ourselves with large public battles. That is the Ace of Club's job."

"You're serious?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, you're Sirius. I'm the Ace of Spades." Harry said with an unseen smile.

"Oh God." Sirius said, but smiled anyways. "I thought I had heard the last of that joke when James died."

"Will you join us?" Harry asked, seriously.

Sirius sighed and rubbed his eyes. "What's in it for me? What can you do that isn't already being done?" he asked, for the first time actually considering the idea.

"We're going to be bringing the fight to Voldemort for a change. But in order to do that, I need you to help me. In return, I will help you clear your name and help return life to normal, or atleast as normal as can be." Harry held his breath, waiting for the answer.

Sirius sighed again. He just knew he was going to regret what he was about to do, but... "I'll do it."

Harry breathed a loud sigh of relief. He then jumped up and flicked his wand. The wards and table disappeared without a trace. "Good. Take this." He handed Sirius the king of spades playing card. "That is a two way portkey to where we will be based out of. Once you activate it the first time, it will be attuned to your magical signature, and you will be the only one able to use it. Activate it in one week at this time exactly and we'll go over everything."

Sirius took the card. He wasn't too sure he could trust these people, but even if he couldn't, atleast the Order would have a spy in this organization if it came down to it. Besides, the man had a point. It was about time somebody took the fight to the Death Eaters for a change.

T.B.C.

In case you are wondering where the Command Sergeant Major came from, as well as the ICU. I took the ICU from a story I read a while back. Can't remember the author's name, but props go to him/her. The Command Sergeant Major is because I'm going into the American military and that's one of the highest ranks you can get, so I figured I could put it in there.


	6. Heart's Desire

Harry Potter and the Deck of 53

Chapter VI: Heart's Desire

"I hope you have something good to report to me." Joker said. He smiled good naturedly at the better dressed Ace. "I don't think I can handle news like last week."

"It was most troubling that I could not convince the Centaurs to join us." the Ace of Diamonds said. He was once again dressed in all black except for the formal wizarding robes which were a dark blue. "I simply could not get them to overcome the differences they hold with the Ministry." He sighed deeply. "I'm afraid they just won't deal with humans since that toad's latest half-breed regulation was passed."

"Calm yourself, Fox." He had given everybody a codename to use, so that he wouldn't have to keep using their full titles. "There is no reason to get worked up over the past. We will simply have to wait till a later date for correcting these wrongs." Joker sat back in his chair. "Tell me, how did your latest contact sympathise with our cause?"

A smile came forth at the question. "I didn't get them all, not even half. The southern pack is going to join us, but the northern werewolves are fully under the control of Greyback. However, roughly a third of the werewolf population belongs to the southern union, so we have a good chunk of support."

"Excellent!" Joker said, slowly relaxing into his chair. "I already knew that Greyback's pack was a little out of our reach. Who is the Alpha of the southern pack?"

"A man by the name of Julio Strait. He's an older man. I'd say he was in his fifties, but you know how hard age is to tell with werewolves. They all look atleast twenty years older than they are." Fox said. He took a drink of water before continuing. "He's one of those that got bitten later in life. I think he was twenty. Anyway, he's done more for werewolves in the past month than most have since the first known case of lycanthropy. The only problem is Umbridge. She keeps making those Creature Laws and sets him back to square one."

Joker sighed in annoyance. "That woman,and I use the term lightly, is a pathetic excuse for a human being. When we take over the Ministry, I will personally see to it that everything with her name on it is stricken from the records!" he said calmly, though the anger behind it was palpable.

"So you really are planning to take over the Ministry?" Fox asked. It had been hinted at before, but he didn't know to what extent it was going to happen.

"Don't worry, my boy." Joker said, smiling benignly. "I don't plan on becoming ruler of the world. However, the Ministry is not well protected at the moment, and it won't stand against Voldemort. The only way to protect it from being taken over by Death Eaters is to take it over myself."

"Sir, you have an eye for politics that astounds me. You will be a great Minister." Fox said, feeling better now that some light had been shed on the subject.

"Sadly, Fox, I haven't the political savvy that you have, or I'd let you do this job and I would be out recruiting." Joker said with a wry chuckle. "Anyway, which group are we going to approach next?"

"I'm going to offer an olive branch to the goblins next week. I wouldn't hold my breath for too much out of them though. Its bad for their business to take sides." Fox said, sipping from a cup of tea.

Joker sat back in his chair with a contemplative look on his face. "Naturally, you are correct. We can't count on them for combat support. However, their knowledge of business should be beneficial. Do you have a contact within the Goblin Nation?"

"No. I've set up a meeting with a squire. He will report directly to the Goblin Council."

"Let me know how that goes. If you can set up a meeting with the Goblin Council, or even just a Councilmen, I wish to be present."

Silence enveloped the room for a few moments as the two gentlemen sipped from their tea.

"How has your other mission been going, my boy?" Joker asked in a softer voice. "Have you been holding up okay?"

Fox sighed and rubbed his eyes. "It has been difficult these past few days. Nobody suspects anything, not even my own family. I've completely delved into the role that I have to play."

"I know it can't be easy, but such are the prices of war. I'm afraid I can't make it any easier on you. Politics are the devil's playground and only the cold hearted can play without being eaten alive." Joker whispered, though it was easily heard. "One last question before you leave. Have you decided on your Jack, Queen, or King?"

"Aye. I have got the positions filled. My King is a young upstart in the ministry, my Queen is a representative from the werewolves, and my Jack will ,hopefully, be a liason from the Goblins. As you said, even if they can't back us up in combat, they can atleast help us manage ourselves financially."

"Perfect. I wish you luck on your mission." He began shuffling through papers on his desk in clear dismissal.

Fox stood from his chair and nodded to his superior before walking out of the door and Disapparating.

Joker stood from his desk and went to his window. Nothing had changed outside, and he slowly smiled. Without any warning, his brown cloak flew over his shoulders, and the hood flew up over his face. The smile never left his face as he snapped his fingers, and his body instantaneously combusted into a raging inferno. The flames died out as quickly as they came, leaving no trace of the Joker anywhere.

Harry grunted heavily as he and Ron lifted Hermione's trunk into the rack of the compartment. He shook his head in exasperation at his bushy haired friend's obsession with books. True, knowledge is power, and it is always interesting to learn new things, but the girl took it to the extremes.

"The eltruckos seem to be sitting on the trunks to make them heavier." a dreamy voice lilted up to them. Harry turned to the girl that had already been in the compartment before they arrived. "They are always trying to make simple tasks like that harder."

Harry furrowed his eyebrows as his sharp green eyes locked with the glazed blue of the girl. He quirked an eyebrow and turned on the 'eye twinkle.' "Is that so?" he asked, humorously. "That seems a tad bit rude."

The girl just smiled dreamily and turned back to her issue of _The Quibbler_. Harry sat down in the remaining seat, across from Ron and next to Ginny. Ginny began giggling at Ron's bewildered expression.

"This is Luna Lovegood." Ginny said, coming back to her senses. "She is a Ravenclaw in my year. Luna, these are Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and my brother Ron."

Hermione sniffed disdainfully at the magazine the younger girl was reading upside down. "I've heard of that magazine. It's full of crazy stories and nonexistant animals."

Luna's voice came from behind the magazine, "The stories are not crazy, and every animal in here exists. How can you say that the Crumple-Horned Snorkack doesn't exist?" It sounded like a sincere question.

Harry could tell that if he didn't step in, then this could become very heated, and he didn't want to see his new friend's feelings hurt. He sent a mild, wandless stinging hex toward Hermione. She yelped and looked around for who cast the spell. As no one had their wands drawn, she couldn't accuse anybody, but she sat in silence for a few minutes trying to figure out where it had come from.

"Hey, Ron," Ginny said, "don't you and Hermione have a prefects meeting in a few minutes?"

That snapped Hermione out of her confusion as she pulled Ron out of the compartment with barely a farewell sent over her shoulder.

"Thank you, Harry Potter." came Luna's voice from behind her magazine. Ginny looked between Luna and Hary in puzzlement, but Harry knew that Luna knew that it was he who had stopped Hermione. He didn't know how she knew, but he didn't think that she knew about the wandless magic, so he didn't worry.

"You're welcome, Luna Lovegood." he said softly which only served to confuse Ginny more.

It had been a quiet trip to Hogwarts. That in itself was odd. There was usually some kind of disturbance during the trip. Harry couldn't figure out why he was wasting brain power over this oddity, but he couldn't help but feel that something was missing. Something that was nagging at the back of his mind. It was usually there, but now that it wasn't, Harry couldn't remember what it was.

They stepped off the train with Harry still trying to puzzle out what could be missing from the norm. They approached the carriages and he still couldn't remember. He was about to step into the carriage when...

"Oy, Potter!" a drawling voice carried over to him.

That was it. He hadn't heard from Malfoy yet. He turned to see the pompous prat, standing there in all his "glory."

He smiled good naturedly at his school rival: "Why Malfoy, I was wondering if you had forgotten your annual visit. You are running a tad late this year."

Malfoy just stared coolly at Harry. "I had more important things to worry about than antagonizing you, no matter how much I enjoy proving how hot tempered you Gryffindors are." he said with his customary sneer.

"While I would love to sit here and banter with you for longer, Draco," Harry said while turning to the carriage, "we need to be getting to the castle. The feast will not wait for us."

"Very well, Potter." Malfoy sneered. "Go and eat. Be sure to enjoy it though. With the Dark Lord back, I'm sure that you and your blood traitor and mudblood friend's meals are numbered."

"Follow your own advice Malfoy. Because your daddy is just one screw up away from death, and then who will put the food on your table?" Harry said without a single hint of humor in his voice. He was very solemn, in fact, as he said those words.

No more words were said as the two parted ways. Harry climbed into the carriage that his friends had already claimed.

"What was that Harry?" Hermione asked with concern. "Did he threaten you or anything?"

Realizing that they hadn't heard a word of the conversation between him and Malfoy, Harry simply smiled and said, "No, Hermione. We just had a nice chat."

Ron snorted. "A nice chat? With Malfoy?" he said, jokingly. "The day that happens will be the day that I'm elected Queen of England."

Harry made a big show of bowing low to Ron and said, "Your Majesty!"

Everyone roared with laughter as Ron's ears went red. The carriage fell silent a moment later, and a comfortable silence enveloped them on the ride to the castle. They parted ways with Luna at the entrance to the Great Hall in order to go to their seperate house tables.

"Where's Hagrid?" Hermione asked, searching the staff table for their half giant friend. All heads swiveled to the staff table, which was evidently giant free.

"Do you think he's doing something for the Order?" Ron whispered to make sure no one heard him mention the Order. "Maybe he's out spying on Death Eaters or somethng."

Harry snorted at the thought of Hagrid trying to be inconspicuous. No, he was definitely not spying. Besides, most of the active players in the war were gathering support at this time. He was probably sent on a recruiting mission. Whatever support they were trying to get, it had to be big if they had to send Hagrid.

Harry took a napkin from the table and wrote something on it before sliding it to Hermione who was still trying to puzzle out what Hagrid could be doing. A light clicked on in her head when she read the one word written on the napkin: _'Giants.'_

Ron, apparently satisfied with his earlier conclusion, turned back to the table longingly, as if waiting for the food to magically appear.

_'Funnily enough,'_ Harry mused,_ 'he's literally waiting on that very thing.'_

"There's no point in guessing. We won't get any answers until he comes back." Harry said with a smile, though he was almost positive that he was correct. He would have to send Fox a message, suggesting sending an envoy to the Giants.

The hall fell silent as Professor McGonagall marched the First Years in to be sorted. Harry didn't even listen to the song, or the sorting at all. He sat thinking about how he was going to leave the castle without anyone noticing. The opening part of Dumbledore's annual speech went in one ear and out the other. It wasn't until an _ugly_ woman stood up and interupted Dumbledore that he finally tuned back in.

_'That's that bitch from my trial.'_ he thought, instantly recognizing that foul woman. _'My God. Somebody needs to tell her how to dress because that much pink should be illegal. On the other hand, a full body cast wouldn't improve her looks.'_

Deciding that he might want to start listening to the toad, Harry focused on the words coming out of her mouth. This turned out to be a mistake because Harry instantly became completely pissed. The Ministry, Harry decided, was beginning to get on his nerves. If something wasn't done soon to radically change how they dealt with things, Harry would request to lead a charge on the Ministry.

Dumbledore politely applauded the woman as she went to take her seat. "Without further ado, tuck in." He raised his hands, and the tables magically filled themselves with food.

"Can you believe that... that... _woman_!" Hermione spat as if she had wanted to say something besides the word she had used.

"What did she do that's got you all tied in a knot over?" Ron asked, obliviously.

Harry sighed at his friends naivete. He loved the boy like a brother, but he could be thick at times. Instead of getting involved in the conversation, Harry decided to let Hermione educate their less than observant friend, while he continued to stare at the crackling flames in the common room fireplace.

"Don't you see what is happening?" Hermione asked, increduously. Seeing the blank expression on her friends face, she echoed Harry's sigh and explained. "The Ministry has decided to interfere at Hogwarts by sending her here."

"They can't do that!" Ron exclaimed, flabbergasted. "Dumbledore won't allow it."

"There is very little Dumbledore can do at this point without completely pissing off Fudge." Harry drawled, tiredly. "He's got to either put up with Toad Bitch, or have the Ministry against us. I suppose he just picked the lesser of the two evils."

Ron stared slack jawed at Harry, while Hermione looked proud of the explanation Harry gave, so much so that she didn't even comment on the language he used. It gave her hope that she wasn't the only one of them who could come up with solutions.

"In any case, she's here now and probably doesn't plan on leaving for a while." he stood and turned to the staircase. "Its time for me to hit the hay. I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast."

He made his way to the bedroom and climbed into the four poster bed. He laid down on the sheets and sealed the curtains around his bed. Nobody was getting through here.

He hadn't been tired. Far from it really. The real reason for him turning in early was in his front pocket. He took out the Ace of Spades card that was warming to let him know that he was needed at HQ. He activated the portkey, which dumped him right in the large chair behind his desk in his office.

He had done some decorating since Joker had given him the room a few weeks ago. He had sectioned it off into three rooms. The largest, main room was set up as a training room which he had used some of his own money to buy some equipment for. The second, much smaller room was a strategy room which was now acting as Sirius's office until everything was up and running. The last and smallest room was his personal office. It was spartan in design with just a desk, two book shelves, three cauldrons set up against the far wall, and a fireplace for floo calls.

Harry looked in his incoming mail box to see one letter neatly placed in the tray. He was having all his mail sent to this office instead of Hogwarts, so that nobody would suspect anything about any strange letters he got.

He picked the missive up and skimmed through it. He raised an eyebrow and burned the letter with a touch of his fingers. He pulled out his wand and waved it over himself, performing a switching spell on his clothes and the uniform hanging in a hidden closet behind his bookshelves where he kept important things.

He straightened his red ball cap and stepped out of his office. After a quick navigation through the winding hallway, he arrived at another door that had a massive ruby in the shape of a heart as the doorknob. He stepped through the door quickly to find nothing. The door swung shut behind him, plunging him into complete darkness. He couldn't even see his wand three inches in front of his face. Before he could start panicking, another door to his right opened, casting a scant amount of light into the room.

"In here, Hawk." came a melodic, feminine voice from the opening.

Recognising his codename, Harry made his way into the room which was set up like an office. It was set up very similar to his office in fact.

"Take a seat, Hawk." she said, waving her wand to conjure a stiff chair. "We have business to talk."

"What is it that I may do for you, Snake?" he asked, sitting down in the uncomfortable chair. He wiggeled a bit before taking his wand and transfiguring it into a comfortable arm chair.

The only female Ace frowned at the transformation of her furniture, not that Harry could see it. She sighed and pushed on with the matter at hand: "I am in need of your dueling skills."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "With what do you need my skills for my Lady?"

"There is an illegal dueling ring that I suspect of having darker roots than simple felony law breaking."

"You suspect Voldemort's influence in this?" Harry asked, intrigued.

"If not him, then one of his inner circle. They only sprang up at the beginning of last year, and it seems that quite a profit is made off gambling on the fights."

"The beginning of last year? That was before his resurrection. How could it possibly have anything to do with the Voldemort?"

"Even if he hadn't regained his body, he was still gaining influence. After all, his most loyal Death Eater and one of his most accomplished duelists had already returned to him. It would've been easy for this follower to start this ring before his being given the Kiss."

"Crouch. The little bastard was already providing for his master before the monster was given a body." Harry said. Everything was clicking into place. Crouch had plenty of time before he needed to impersonate Moody. Why wouldn't Voldemort send him out doing useful things?

"It is known that the Dark Lord had a similar deal in the first war. He would use it to draw fresh recruits with dueling skills." Snake said, steepling her fingers in front of her face. "That is without mentioning the money they gained from the gambling."

"So old Voldie had a valuable asset with this dueling ring." Harry said rubbing his chin through the mask. "So you want me to participate in this competition? Why aren't you doing it? You're better at spying than anyone. I'm not sure I could get you any valuable information."

"You're not going to be the one spying." Snake said leaning back in her chair. "I am. You'll be the front that gets us into the place. I'll pose as your corner man. I just need you to fight and stay in the competition until I can get enough information on the place to pass on to Joker."

"What are you looking to find exactly?" Harry asked.

There was a hesitation. "I'm not at liberty to say at the moment. It could compromise too much. You just worry about dueling."

Harry nodded his exceptance. "What kind of Death Eater prescence are we looking at?"

"Unknown."

That wasn't reassuring in the least. They could have that place filled with Death Eaters, and he wouldn't know it until the wands were at his throat. "I can only agree to this on the condition that I bring a second along with me." he said, thinking Sirius's prescence would make it a much less daunting task.

"Perfectly acceptable." Snake said, relieved that he would go along with it.

"When do we start?" Harry asked. It really didn't matter to him as he would just use his time turner to make sure that he missed no time at Hogwarts, but Sirius needed to make sure that he could get away from Dumbledore.

"They hold a competition every other week on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Conveniently, next week is their next tournament."

"How is this tournament set up?"

"It's a weeklong tournament with one winner. There are usually fifty four contenders in the beginning. The first two rounds are held on that Tuesday, the semifinals are held on Thursday, and the final, which is just a massive battle royal with the final thirteen competitors going at it until there is only one left standing, is held that Saturday."

"Any rules I should be aware of?"

"There are no rules. Unforgiveables, Dark Arts, physical weapons, etcetera. Anything goes." Snake said, solemnly.

Harry frowned beneath his mask. He didn't like the sound of that one bit. However, this mission could provide a plethora of information on Voldemort's forces. He couldn't afford to turn it down.

"Very well." he said with a sigh. "I will meet you here on Monday to go over the plans, and we will commense the operation on Tuesday." He stood from his chair which reverted to its former rigid form. "If you will excuse me, I must inform my King."

Snake nodded and waved her wand. The door behind him opened into the dark room and he passed through it on the way to his office. He managed to not panic in the brief darkness before another door opened, showing him the way out. He had little time to prepare for his first mission, and he needed to be sure he wasn't gone long enough to be missed at Hogwarts. But first, he needed to make a floo call to his favorite ex-con.

T.B.C.


End file.
